Thursday, January 21, 2021

THE EVOLUTION OF MAHARAJ’S MESSAGE: From dogma to spirituality to psychology

Table of Contents

Today's Considerations
Recent Posts and Archives
Tools for Realization
Author's eBooks
Author's Paperback Books
Free eBooks

TODAY'S CONSIDERATIONS

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. [See the offer in gold text following this post for details on how you can watch a retreat on video which includes a detailed discussion of all seven of the steps on the path as used by Maharaj]

2. Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of god," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns. See the green text after today's post for the full meaning and implications of that.

3. A new video ("Number Ten: Awakening Together Satsang, March 2018") has now been added in the far right column of this page, offering the opportunity to view a recent 2018 satsang session with Floyd being interviewed by Regina and Jacqueline of "The Awakening Together Group." (See the details in the blue text after this post.)

4. Some prefer paperback books even if they have to wait a day or so to receive it and have to pay more for a printed book and its shipment. Now, 10 paperback books by Henderson are in print and available in two anthologies through Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and over 40,000+ booksellers around the globe including in the Americas, Germany, India, Italy, Poland, Russia, China, Spain, Brazil and South Korea. See the end of this post in red text for details.

5. Would you like to have us send to someone as a gift from you a copy of any ebook in our inventory? See the offer in purple text at the end of this post.

6. Or, you may purchase a Floyd Henderson Shopify Gift Card here for someone and offer recommendations for the books in Floyd's store which might be of assistance to them.

7. You may click here to visit Floyd's bookstore
which offers both digital books and paperback books which deal with non-duality, non-duality-based fictional adventures, recovery, financial sanity, financial planning, and more.

THE EVOLUTION OF MAHARAJ’S MESSAGE:

From dogma to spirituality to psychology

In 1915, Maharaj found employment in Bombay (Mumbai today) as a clerk with a private firm; however, owing to the strong, independent nature of the Personality Type Four Rebel, he soon took to trading on his own. He started a business of making and selling hand-made local cigarettes (bidis), starting with one shop that soon multiplied into eight shops.

He got married to Sumatibai in the year 1924, and raised a family of four children with her. It would be at the age of 34 in 1933 that Nisargadatta first met his Guru, Sri Samartha Siddharameshwar.

Finally, Maharaj came to see that even a thriving material life could bring no contentment as his quest for truth was still unfulfilled. After his guru took mahasamadh in the year 1936, Nisargadatta suddenly decided to abandon the material life. He left his family and business behind and entered into his “wanderer” or “forest dweller” stage and began moving throughout Southern India on a 24-7 "quest" or "search."

Along the way, his path crossed that of a fellow guru-brother who made him realize that dispassionate action in an active life is more meaningful than in an inactive and abandoned life.

Soon after, Maharaj returned to Bombay and found out that only one of his eight shops had remained open. But this was enough for him, for he knew that one shop would suffice for his “relative needs.”

Word began to spread among seekers in Bombay that a shop owner named Maruti Shivrampant Kambli was offering answers to certain questions regarding the dogma of Hinduism and non-duality.

Around that time, Maharaj had been trying to spend quiet time in his overcrowded-with-family flat on Vanmali Bhavan, 10th Lane, Khetwadi, Bombay, India,


made even noisier by the fact that the rear of his apartment was attached to the rear of a brothel operating on the street behind him.  

Gradually, the number of people outside his shop increased to form a small crowd who came regularly to listen to Nisargadatta’s words of wisdom.

Meanwhile, as a retreat of sorts, Maharaj had earlier built an addition in his flat, a small 10' x 20' room, or a “loft,” above the living area of his flat, reached by climbing a narrow and steep staircase.

When the crowds outgrew the space which the shop could accommodate, he began using his loft as a place for gatherings and for the singing of bhajans and the occasional playing of music which also inspired dancing at times, followed by a “devotion” or message.

Maharaj, however, was less interested in the religious message and the trappings of Hinduism and more interested in the message of non-duality. For a time, as he tried to abandon talk of religion replaced with a non-dual message, he complained to his still-living guru at the time that the crowd numbers were decreasing, not increasing.

His guru Sri Siddharameshwar offered some “sneaky” advice: use religion to bring them in and then pepper the devotions with non-dual pointers. (Ah, the old bait and switch trick, huh?)

For a time, he tried that, but another, even more drastic shift in messaging was about to occur. 

With the publication and international circulation of a book containing transcripts of some of his talks (entitled I AM THAT), an international audience of seekers began to find their way to his loft in 10th Lane, Khetwadi. Fewer with an interest in dogma came to the loft as more began to appear who were seeking something “spiritual.”

The newer audience had little interest in singing bhajans and dancing, and Maharaj allowed them to influence him and what he offered (to the chagrin of many of his earlier Hindu followers).

With the onset of more and more “spiritual seekers” (and would-be Spiritual Giants), Maharaj would eventually abandon the use of a religious / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine and would offer a mainly spiritual / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine.

In the third phase of his years of teaching - after Maharaj had abandoned the use of a religious / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine and after he would also abandon the use of a spiritual / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine – the critics came forth with loud voices.

So why did he shift into a third phase? He came to realize that the Ultimate Sickness (a) did not involve persons knowing too little dogma and (b) did not involve persons having a "sick spiritual" or a "spiritual malady.”

To the contrary, he came to understand that (c) the problems of humankind are centered in the mind. 

At that point, he began using a psychology / non-dual version of the Ultimate Medicine. 

To that end, he came to see that 

"Science will someday advance to the point that it will confirm the validity of the non-dual teachings"  

and that

“The idea that you know what is true is dangerous, for it keeps you imprisoned in the mind.” 

He also came to understand the following: 

"All illness begins in the mind." 

"Your confusion is . . . in your mind." 

"Whatever is conceived by the mind must be false, for it is bound to be relative and limited."

"Distrust your mind, and go beyond." 

"There is no chaos in the world except the chaos which your mind creates." 

" . . . The mind obscures and distorts." 

"It is the mind that creates illusion." 

"There is no such thing as peace of mind. Mind means disturbance. Restlessness itself is mind."

"Don't rely on your mind for liberation. It is the mind that brought you into bondage. Go beyond it altogether." 

"Beyond the mind there is no suffering." 

And what is “the mind” filled with? Ideas, concepts, notions, thoughts, perceptions, impressions, theories, etc., all of which he referred to as humankind’s body of “learned ignorance” (also known as, “beliefs”).

Having reached that understanding, he also came to understand that no institution has propagated more beliefs - and thus more false beliefs - than religion, followed closely by politics / big government and by big business.

To that end, he would simplify his definition of what realization is not and what realization is by affirming that 

“Realization is simply being freed from all belief in the learned ignorance which has been taught.”

In the end, he would make clear that he believed nothing.

As for religious beliefs:

"First of all you identify something as being good or bad for yourself. Then, in an effort to acquire good or to get rid of the bad, you have invented a God. Then you worship such a God and . . . you pray to that God for something good to happen to you."

As for spiritual beliefs:

"Whatever spiritual things you aspire to know are all happening in this objective world, in the illusion. All this is happening in the objective world. All is dishonesty. There is no truth in this fraud."

As for faith in any Hindu teachings and even in most non-dual teachings:

“I have no faith in anything which has ever been told, not even what has been told by the Vedas. Only my own experience.”

In other words, his invitation to seekers became this: 

Discard all beliefs (be they rooted in religion, spirituality, politics, or in anything else). Reach a state of zero concepts.

As for his take on science, he had long before seen the ignorance of religious leaders attacking scientists and allowing the insanity of religious or spiritual fanaticism to inspire non-factual information to be accepted as truth as a result of blind faith to the point that, throughout history, those types of fanatics often advised their congregants that all scientifically-based beliefs were atheism-rooted beliefs. 


Finally, contrary to the critics who lambasted Maharaj for “turning his back on his religious roots,” he did no such thing; instead, he turned to face the truth, to find freedom from believing in all the nonsense he had been taught, and to reach a no-concepts, no beliefs, no-lies state.

To be continued.

Please enter into the silence of contemplation.

  THE NEWEST OFFER:

Watch an updated seven-hour streaming video of a retreat with Floyd Henderson which can be viewed by anyone with internet access. (In this video, all seven of the steps on "the path" as taught by Maharaj are explained and discussed.



If interested, click the button below to pay the fee via PayPal. You will then receive an email which includes the link for you to view the private, unlisted video via an arrangement we have made with YouTube, Inc. You do not have to have a YouTube account to watch this privately streamed video.

 (If you do not receive the link promptly, your computer or email provider may have high filter settings. Check your spam and trash folders because some providers automatically transfer emails containing links to those folders.)
 

To access the seven-hour streaming video of a retreat and begin watching right away, click this "Buy Now" button:
Buy Now
 
 [NOTE: The four most recent posts are below. You may access all of the postsin this series and in the previous series and several thousand other posts as well by clicking on the links in the "Recent Posts and Archives" section.]

In addition to the five non-duality books made available without charge by Andy Gugar, Jr. (see “FREEBIES” above), you can now access nearly 3,300 posts for any topics of interest to you.



PAPERBACK VERSIONS OF SOME OF HENDERSON'S NON-DUALITY BOOKS ARE AVAILABLE.

If you prefer PAPERBACK copies

of some of Henderson’s non-duality books,

10 of his books are available in PRINT FORM
(collected in two anthologies).  


Links for ordering are below with
BARNES and NOBLE presently providing better service
than AMAZON
when it come to fulfilling orders for
paperback and hardcover books
as opposed to delivering digital books.
 


[NOTE: Wherever you live, you can search for the books below by title with booksellers in your country. With 40,000+ retailers distributing my paperback books, you may order from U.S. stores or you may find someone nearer to you.]


For NON-DUALITY AUDIENCES

 



The Advanced Seekers' Series (344 pages) is an anthology of four books that share Advaita-based, non-duality pointers that can guide seekers to abide as their original nature. Included in the anthology are

"From the I to the Absolute (A Seven-Step Journey to Reality");


"Consciousness / Awareness: The Nature of Reality Beyond SELF-Realization (Peace Every Day When Abiding As the Absolute)";


"From the Absolute to the Nothingness";


and


"The Final Understanding."


Order a PAPERBACK copy of The Advanced Seekers' Series&
from BARNES AND NOBLE by clicking here
or (sometimes less efficiently nowadays in terms of paperback delivery)


from AMAZON by clicking here.

Also for NON-DUALITY AUDIENCES




This anthology (438 pages) contains the six books that make up what has been called The Blissful Abidance Series for those seeking to live blissfully and happily for the remainder of the manifestation, including:


“What BLISS is and what BLISS is not”


“There’s No Such Thing As Peace of Mind (There’s Only Peace If You’re ‘Out of Your Mind’)”


“Liberation (Attaining Freedom from Personality via Realization)”


“Freedom from Shifting Between States of Happiness and Unhappiness”


“Why You Must Be Empty If You Would Be Full”


and


“When REALITY Is Overlaid on the RELATIVE.”


Order a PAPERBACK copy of The Blissful Abidance Series 

from BARNES AND NOBLE by clicking here
or (sometimes less efficiently nowadays in terms of paperback delivery)
from Amazon by clicking here.


SEND A GIFT BOOK TO SOMEONE


(1) You may purchase

 a Floyd Henderson Shopify Gift Card here
 for someone and offer recommendations for the books in Floyd's store which might be of assistance to them. 

Or, 


(2) To make an arrangement for us to send in your name as a gift from you any of our books to someone you choose:


(a) Visit www.floydhenderson.com


(b) Purchase the ebook you’d like to send.


(c) Contact us using the email below, tell us which ebook you just purchased, and provide the name and email address of the person you want to send the ebook to. (They will never be contacted again or solicited for any reason.)


Send your information to:




Here, with those who are still driven to talk about "god," the "Son of god," the "Holy Spirit," "Buddha," "Krishna," etc., etc., etc., the invitation to them is to view those as verbs, not nouns.

THE EXPLANATION


If looked at as nouns, they point to illusions and are, therefore, a total waste of time to even discuss; if looked at as verbs which are resulting in certain sane but rare behaviors among humanity, then they are worthy of some attention during the relative existence.

Meaning? There are members of certain groups who say things such as "My concept of god in the past was of a weak god, an absentee god, A Santa Claus-type god, a mean, punishing, vindictive god, etc. Today, I am in close contact with a loving and caring god whom I worship and praise and glorify and give thanks to."

The reply to that usually goes like this: "If you are in contact with a god that wants to be worshipped and praised and glorified, then you're dealing with someone like yourself - a narcissist - and hanging out with narcissists will never bring an end to your narcissism (that narcissism evidenced by the fact that you think you are "godly").

Next, in the phrase 'loving and caring god,' any supposed god that truly had her or his act together would tell you that the totally irrelevant part of that phrase is 'god' and that the only part that is relevant is the "loving and caring" part.

"That is, a non-narcissistic their god / their goddess would say, "I care not an iota about being worshipped and praised and glorified by you or anyone else. How arrogant and insecure and needy would I have to be to want that? Forget the man-made, dreamed up noun 'god' and focus on the 'god as a verb' understanding and then go forth and let loving and caring be verbs - not adjectives - and let them generate the act of love and the act of caring and let those actions manifest through you." 

Yeshu'a (Jesus) and Pope John Paul II and Pope Francis were spot on:


"No one shall ever see 'the kingdom of heaven.' It is within"

--Yeshu'a (Jesus)

and 


"Heaven and earth shall fade away."

--Yeshu'a (Jesus)

and 


"Heaven and hell are not geographic places

but are states of mind, nothing more than

concepts dreamed up by men."

--Pope John Paul II 

"There is no hell."

--Pope Francis, the current pope

in an interview with journalist Eugenio Scalfari,

a writer used by the Pope to issue off the record

teachings which become a part of the Papal Magisterium.

[That said, would that the popes who have shown the courage to reject a core concept of their dogma - namely, "hell" - would find the additional courage required to question the very existence of their institution in light of the centuries-long cover-up of their history of raping children and in light of the mental and emotional and psychological scarring of billions of their members past and present.

And that need for courage also applies as questions need to be asked about why so many other sky cults are still being supported and allowed to continue to exist as well. When certain types of programming and conditioning have been shown to blind the masses, they should end. Will they? Not likely. Why?

Because what the masses think and say and do is most influenced by the international crime families which hold sway over the masses as criminals conduct their planet-wide operations. What are the major international crime families and which are the most influential and have the largest memberships?

The Mafia / La Cosa Nostra; the Catholic Church (with it 1.2 billion followers) whose Vatican Bank worked for decades with the Mafia while laundering mob earnings (for a 15% all-profit charge by the Bank); Protestant and Evangelical Churches (with over 1.2 billion followers) like the one I was raised in where the youth director molested and sexually assaulted young girls; big business which has long created environments in which people have been abused; powerful political bodies like the U.S. Congress, etc., etc., etc.)

With all of those crime families, neither the followers nor the leadership ever voluntarily step down or shut down their criminal activities. Be they gangs, organized crime families, religions, big business, politicians, etc., they all want control and they all want power and they all want money, and nothing internal will interfere with the driving forces at play.

The masses must demand that all those in charge must step down and their groups and institutions must shut down, and there's the real problem because the continuation of their crimes are enabled not as much by the people running such crime organizations as they are enabled by the masses of people who - wanting some perceived "payoff" - remain involved with them and give them money and support them and aid and abet the continued existence of those criminal enterprises and thus facilitate the ability of church criminals and political criminals and other types of criminals to continue to commit their crimes.] 

Here's

the direct link to the VIDEO VERSION 

of the "Awakening Together" satsang session with Regina and Jacqueline referenced earlier, 
18 MARCH 2018

or

You can click on the picture link which has now been added for video "Number Ten" in the upper right-hand column on this page.

If preferred, here's the direct link to the AUDIO VERSION. 

You may click
here 
to visit Floyd's bookstore 
which offers both digital and paperback books.

 

Recent Posts and Archives

Tools Used by Other Seekers of Realization

WATCHING an Advaita Vedanta Retreat: Watch a Downloadable computer file version of the Four-Day Advaita Retreat (Downloadable on PC only, not Apple.)

ENROLLING in the Online Advaita Classes For information, visit Information on the Advaita Classes on the Internet To enroll visit Enroll in the Advaita Internet Course

ATTENDING an Advaitin retreat with Floyd and being guided through all seven steps. For details of the retreats offered, please visit the retreat information site.

ARRANGING a one-hour session via Skype or telephone with Floyd. (Skype is a free service.) Click the button to pay and you will be contacted to arrange a date and time for the call.

Five Free eBooks

Compliments of Andy Gugar, Jr.,
the following eBooks are available without charge for you or for friends:

I.
"GOOD vs. EVIL?" or "IGNORANCE, STUPIDITY, and INSANITY?"

The content of this eBook deals with one of the most common but erroneous beliefs that the non-Realized masses cling to and which they will fight about (and even kill over), namely, that there is a planet-wide duel going on between “the forces of good and evil” in the universe.

Either (1) the ancient view is spot on: that the "ills of the planet" are rooted in evil people, in people not being religious enough or spiritual enough, and are caused solely by bad morality; or, (2) the "ills of the planet" are rooted in ignorance, stupidity and insanity and "being good" or "being moral" does not put an end to ignorance, does not eliminate stupidity, and does not treat insanity in any way.

II.
"THE VISION"

Comments regarding the free eBook entitled “THE VISION”:

“My thanks to you and Andy.” – Andrew “Mac” McMaster

“Thanks so much for the book! And, by the way, it is brilliant and the most effective pointing that you have done. It has served to help clear the remaining blockages.” – Stan Cross

“Greatly appreciate having “THE VISION” added to my Henderson resource library that is situated on the right side of my bed for easy access! Eternally grateful for what was received and what was given.” – Robert Rigby

“‘THE VISION’ is such a well-written, condensed version of the Nisarga Yoga approach to understanding and enjoying Reality that I feel it can serve as a must-read ‘meditation guide’ for all earnest seekers.” – Andy Gugar, Jr.

III.
"Sapolsky, Maharaj, and the Non-Dual Teachings"

Dr. Robert Maurice Sapolsky is an American neuroendocrinologist; a professor of biology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery at Stanford University; a researcher; an author; and a Research Associate at the National Museums of Kenya.

There is much that a non-dualist or Advaitin or Nisargan can relate to by comparing and contrasting what Sapolsky reveals about the way certain troops of baboons live in Africa with the way that humans abide all around the globe.

This 152-page eBook catalogues the common, non-dual message shared by Sapolsky and Maharaj and reveals the ways that Sapolsky’s scientific research supports the non-dual pointers offered by Maharaj.

IV.
Seeking

In “PART ONE” it will be seen that most persons on the planet are not seeking, and most will never seek, but for those who are seeking, most will face several obstacles:

In “PART TWO” of this book, it will be seen why many criticized Maharaj for “changing his message in his later talks.” It will be seen that the changes were not about changing the message per se as much as about changing his methodology as he experimented with one version of the Ultimate Medicine after another in order to try to find an effective means for addressing the Ultimate Sickness.

He tried a religious version of the Medicine, a Spiritual version of the Medicine, and finally settled on a version which addressed to Sickness at its core . . . at the mental and emotional level.

V.
"THE MOST DANGEROUS BELIEF OF ALL"

“Dangerous” is a term that can only apply during the relative existence, but of those who do commit suicide, for example, how many shoot themselves in the foot over and over until they “bleed out”? None. They shoot themselves in the head. Why? In order to try to stop the noise - to try to stop the chatter of a thousand monkeys – to stop the noisy mind which is the area that stores the ideas, notions, concepts, mind-stuff, etc. which drives them into the depths of insanity.

And what are those ideas, notions, concepts, etc. called, collectively? "Their beliefs." The irony? They are not their beliefs at all. They are the beliefs of “others” that were set in place via programming, conditioning, etc. and which persons then think are their own.

And what are those beliefs rooted in, and what reinforces those beliefs and convinces persons that they are sacred and worth fighting over and even sometimes worth dying for? Blind faith.

This 337-page eBook discusses those issues in detail.

To read any or all of the free eBooks, please double-click the "FREEBIES" link at the top of this page